A message from Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO

March 18, 2020

Dear Members,

I wanted to update you on what we are doing to support our members and the community during a difficult time for everyone. On Monday, the federal and provincial governments announced new actions and recommendations to help Canadians as we face the impact of COVID-19. I know many of you are concerned. But I want you to know Vancity is here to support you. And we are taking several steps to do that. Over the coming days, we will be implementing several initiatives, starting with the following.

Making it easier

We want to make sure you can get the services you need in the safest way possible. At the present time, this means doing as much of your banking as you can using ATMs and our online, mobile and telephone banking services.

To encourage our personal, business and not-for-profit members to access your accounts remotely, effective today we are waiving INTERAC e-Transfer® and ATM fees in B.C. until April 30. We will first be reversing any fee charges incurred as of March 16; within a couple of days this new fee policy will be automatic.

If you still need to see us in person, our branches remain open and are safe for you to visit. We’ve implemented some precautionary measures in our branches and are continuing to monitor closely.

Those measures include:

• Carrying out the highest available service standard of sanitization in our branches and offices.
• Increasing the daily frequency of our ATM and branch cleaning, including the disinfection of high-touch surfaces such as countertops, door handles, handrails and keypads.
• Requiring employees to stay home with full pay if they are sick or have any symptoms.

On that note, we ask that you please not visit a branch if you are feeling sick, or have recently returned from travel outside Canada, but instead call us and let us help you over the phone.

To reach us, please call your branch manager or contact our Member Service teams:

• Metro Vancouver 604-877-7000
• Greater Victoria 250-519-7000
• Toll-free 1-888-Vancity (1-888-826-2489)

Keeping you up to date

We continue to closely follow developments and monitor the latest advice from our provincial and federal health agencies. We are reviewing and updating our actions and plans as needed to respond to an evolving situation and are in constant contact with our partners in the community to support new actions.

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We remain focused on ensuring members continue to get the services they need. We will provide you with regular updates on how we’re responding, and how we can help.

Beware of fraud

We advise all members to be alert to suspicious or unrecognizable approaches from anyone claiming to be from Vancity, either over the phone or via text or email. If you do experience suspicious contact, please contact the Member Services Centre at 604.877.7000 or toll free at 1.888. Vancity (826.2489).

Given the current situation, we are experiencing extremely high member inquiries to our phone lines. We appreciate your patience, and as always, the Vancity Mobile App and online banking are safe, easy and available 24/7.

This is a challenging time for us all, but we will get through this together, and as a Vancity member you can rest assured that we're here for you.

-Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO